In the case of Westport Insurance Corporation v. Hanft & Knight,
P.C., et al., 523 F.Supp.2d 444 (M.D.Pa.,2007), Judge John E. Jones,
III of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
wrote an important opinion regarding the duty of a legal malpractice
carrier to cover a law firm’s liability for dishonest acts by one
of its members.

2007

(Lemoyne, Pa.) - The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania has added a new component to its Web site to assure
the public is informed of recent Supreme Court actions taken against attorneys.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has modified the
standard under which Federal courts in the circuit may limit public comment
or release of information by attorneys and parties on pending matters, requiring
a more stringent standard to be met before such restrictions can be imposed.

2006

Most disciplinary cases in Pennsylvania are decided by brief per curiam
orders of the Supreme Court, adopting, modifying, or rejecting a Report
of the Disciplinary Board. In December, however, the Supreme Court took
the unusual step of writing three full-length opinions in disciplinary
cases.

2004

On August 3, 2004, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopted an order establishing
the Minor Judiciary Interest on Trust Accounts program. Members of the minor
judiciary are directed to maintain funds received in their official capacity
in interest-bearing accounts.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that a lawyer who is suspended
from the state bar of Pennsylvania, but who has been reinstated to practice
before the Federal Courts, cannot maintain a physical office in Pennsylvania
for the conduct of his Federal Practice.

2003

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that Section 1103(g) of the
Public Official and Employee Ethics Act, 65 Pa. C. S.§1103(g), which
sets limits on the ability of former state employees or officers to represent
clients before the state agency for which they worked, violates Article V, §10(c)
of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which vests in the Supreme Court exclusive
jurisdiction to regulate the practice of law.

On March 27, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a
decision in the case of Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington, in
which it rejected a challenge that Washington's Interest on Lawyer Trust
Accounts (IOLTA) program was unconsitutional as a taking of private property
without compensation.